ArticleBMC nursing2022
Path analysis of the association between self-compassion and depressive symptoms among nursing and medical students: a cross-sectional survey.
Article in BMC nursing, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Measuring medical student wellbeing longitudinally: a psychometric systematic review of commonly used scales.Canadian medical education journal · 2026Pooled it
- Thriving through transition: a narrative review of optimism, self-compassion, and academic stress in first-year college students.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- The Mechanisms Underlying the Relationship Between Self-Compassion and Psychological Outcomes in Adult Populations: A Systematic Review.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2025Pooled it
- Global prevalence of anxiety and depression among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychology · 2024Pooled it
- The prevalence and risk factors of mental problems in medical students during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Pooled it
- Mechanisms of change in compassion-based programs for medical students.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Trajectories and Adaptive Recalibration of Self-Efficacy in Brazilian Medical Students: A Longitudinal Study With Implications for Educational Support.The clinical teacher · 2026Article
- Self-compassion and burnout among medical students in Egypt: indirect effects through perceived stress.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- The association between self-compassion and eating disorders among female college students, the mediating role of psychological resilience, and the moderating role of physical exercise.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Associations Among Depression, Self-Compassion, and Learning Burnout in Nursing Students: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study.Depression and anxiety · 2026Article
- The impact of multiple factors on medical students' test anxiety: the mediating role of psychological resilience.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- A scoping review of nursing interventions of improving resilience among university students during online learning.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Perfectionism in Physician Assistant Students: Implications for Wellness Curricula.Medical science educator · 2025Article
- A pilot study of a new app based on self-compassion for the prevention and promotion of mental health among Brazilian college students.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Self-compassion among Undergraduate Nursing Students at a State University in Indonesia during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2023Article
- Mental Health of Japanese Workers: Amotivation Mediates Self-Compassion on Mental Health Problems.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Self-compassion in Nursing Students and Its Correlations With Moral Intelligence, and Moral Perfectionism: A Cross-Sectional Study.SAGE open nursingArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNursing and medical students are suffering from high rates of depressive symptoms. Mental health benefits students' learning, growth and professional development. Exploring psychological resources to prevent depression is emphasized recently, and self-compassion is shown to be inversely associated with depressive symptoms. However, the mechanism through which self-compassion contributes to decreased depressive symptoms is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to explore and examine a model detailing the potential paths between self-compassion and depressive symptoms.
methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted and convenient sampling was used. Among the 1800 nursing and medical students targeted from two universities in East and North China, 1341 completed the questionnaires, and 1127 valid questionnaires were analyzed comprising 566 and 561 from medical and nursing students, respectively. Data in May 2020 and July 2020 were collected through Patient Health Questionnaire, self-compassion scale, resilience scale, Life Orientation Test and Perceived Stress Scale. Then, path model analysis was conducted to analyze the data.
resultsFinally, this study included 1125 valid questionnaires after excluding two extremes of study variables. Participants consisted of 50.2% medical students and 49.8% nursing students. The model showed an acceptable fit to the data. After controlling for the demographics, self-compassion was directly and indirectly associated with decreased depressive symptoms by increasing resilience and optimism and reducing perceived stress among nursing and medical students. Resilience and optimism were directly and indirectly associated with decreased depressive symptoms by reducing perceived stress among nursing students and indirectly associated with decreased depressive symptoms among medical students.
conclusionsThe study provides evidence that self-compassion significantly influences the decrease in depressive symptoms by increasing resilience and optimism and reducing perceived stress. These findings suggested that programs enhancing students' self-compassion, resilience, and optimism simultaneously can help decrease depressive symptoms and improve mental health in education and healthcare institutes. These findings may facilitate the designing of educational programs for preventing depressive symptoms and promoting mental health among nursing and medical students.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.